Railway signaling system



March 9, 1943.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 14, 1941 v D:.. m K W. m m d mm m O. R .0 I Mm ML. T E H A a N 6 m w w 7 m mn.

March 1943. E. w. MOORE ET AL RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 14, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EW M INVENTdOTISW i oore an napp BY THEIR ATTORNEY v Patented Mar. 9, 1943 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM Edmund W. Moore, Rochester, and James W: Knapp, Brockport, N. Y.,- assignors to General Railway Signal Company, Rochester, N. Y.

Application February 14, 1941, Serial No. 378,968

9 Claims This invention relates in general to signaling systems for use on railways, and has more particular reference to a wayside signaling system employing search light type SC color light signals.

The type SC signal, as employed in this invention, ingeneral is constructed and operates as disclosed in the Field application, Ser. No.

361,060, filed October 14, 1940.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a signaling system capable of giving a large number of diiferent aspects and employing relatively few relays and other apparatus in addition to the light signals themselves.

Further objects, purposes, and characteristic features will appear as the-description progresses, reference being made to the accompanying draw ing, showing solely by Way of example and in no manner whatsoever in a limiting sense, one form which the invention can assume.

Inthe drawing, the single figure of drawing, Fig. 1, constituted by partial figures 1A and 1B; is a wholly schematic representation of one form which the invention can assume.

Referring now to the drawing, there is here shown a stretch of single track constituted by track rails 5, separated into isolated track sections I, 2, 3 and 4', by usual insulating joints 6.

Since the apparatus employed at each of the signal locations is the same, reference charac ters, with distinctive sufilxes indicating the lo'-' cation of the apparatus, are employed for like parts at the various locations. Referring'to track section 4, for example, across its exit end is a track battery TBQ, together with an adjustable resistance T l, while connected across the entrance end is a track relay T4;

Each signal, as S4, comprises an upper arm unit S lU and a lower arm unit SAL.

The signal upper arm unit SAU has been indi-' cated as enclosed in a dotted rectangle. This signal arm unit is of the search light type SC form as disclosed, for example, in the Field application above referred to. It includes a piv-' oted spectacle l, carrying three differently cola ored roundels, a green one G, a yellow one Y, and a red one R. This spectacle can be moved to bring any one of its three roundels opposite asingle light source BWhereby to display a signal of the corresponding color. The spectacle is biased by its operating means when deenergized to'assume the position for displaying the red in-" dication.

Upon the winding 19 of the operating mechanism or relay RYE of upper arm unit S lU, that is, the red-yellow, or home control relay, being energized, the spectacle of this unit is moved so asto display itsyellow indication; Upon the winding l3-of the YG4 mechanism, or relay, that? is, the distant control relay being energized'with the proper polarity, the spectacle is further moved to a position to display its green indication. The distant control relay YGA' is polarized, as by a permanent magnet l4, whereby it is ener'gized', and hence, effective to operate the spectacle only when energy of a given polarity which may conveniently be termed the normal polarity, is a plied.

The signal lower arm unit S4L is also essential ly a type SC color light signal but is modified to a considerable eX-tent'. Its spectacle 9 cooperates with a light source [0- to'di splay either a red indication or a green indication;- I-he usual redroundel has been removed and the usual yellow roundel has been replaced by aredroundel R,

the green roundel G being unchanged. Furthermore, the spectacle, inthis case, is latchedup to its usual yellow positionwhereby to normally display the red indication Whenits operating means is deenergiz'ed;

In this signal lower arm unit the operating mechanism or relay which furnishes the distant control for' thesignalis po'la-rizedF by a permanent magnet H, for example; and is comprised of awinding l2 which isenergized onlywhen the proper polarity isapplied thereto (which in this case is the reverse or that Which" energizes the distant control of the'signal upper'a rmunit andhence can be conveniently termed the reverse polarity), and which, when energized,- moves the specta'icle 9 so that the-signal displays its green indication.

The distant control means or relaysin these signals, as described above, are polarized, and

- while thiseffect is shownas having been produced by theuse or a permanent magnet'in each case, any other suitable'means can'beemployed' such, forexample, as 'show'rrin the above identifie'd Field application The usual red-yellow mechanism or relay or the signal lower arm unit is in this case replacedby apole changing relay-PCRQ for operating a pole: changer" P04 connected to a control line battery BB4 although, if desired; theusualre'd yellow relay can be employedfor this purpose after'first having} been disconnected mechanically from'the spec'tacle. This polechanging relay is co'ntrolledthroug'h out-of-correspondence contacts I5 and W of the relaysYGl-andRGi re sp'ectively, whereby v'vhen these two relays are out of corr'espondencethe' pole changing relay isen e'r gi'Zed. Since 't-hes'e' two polarizedrelays of the"? signal upp'er'andiow'er umts are oppositely poled as describedabove; and since the; windings of thesetworelays'areconnected-inseries, it{follows that; regardlessof'thepol'arityapplied; when one is} energized the otherisf deenergized, andvice versa, and hence; that the associated pole 'ch ang-' ing relay"is-eriergized1-' The home control relay RY I is energized through a circuit including contact finger i7 and front point of its track relay T4 whereby it repeats the track relay. If desired, this arrangement can be varied so that winding 19 of relay RY4 can constitute the secondary relay of a usual primary-secondary combination such, for example, as shown in the Field application above referred to.

The windings of the two polarized relays of the two units of each signal are connected in series in a circuit including the red-yellow relay of the upper arm unit of its s gnal and the like relay of the signal next in advance, and is supplied with energy from the line battery at the location next in advance through the associated pole changer. For example, the circuit for energizing the two windings i3 and i2 of the upper and lower units of signal S4 includes l ne battery LBS, wire 20, supplied with either normal or reverse polarity accordingly as contact finger 2| of relay PCR3 be attracted or retracted, contact finger 22 and front point of relay RY3, contact finger 23 and front point of relay RY4, windings I3 and I2 in series, wire 24, etc., back to battery LB3.

With the system as described above, it is believed its operation can be readily understood from a consideration of an actual example. Shown as occupying block I is a vehicle 25, traffic being considered to be easterly as indicated by arrow 26. With block I occupied, relay TI is in retracted position to thereby cause the release of relay RYI. This opens the circuit for the two relays YGi and RG! at contact finger 21 of the red-yellow relay RYI, whereby to deenergize pole changing relay PCR! to thus put what has been termed reversed polarity on line wire 28 extending to the signal immediately to the rear.

Signal Si thus has both its upper and lower arm units deenergized whereby to display a red over a red, or a stop signal, signifying that an approaching train should stop at this signal.

Considering now signal S2, line wire 28 is disconnected from its feed battery LBI at contact finger 29 of the home control or red-yellow relay RYI whereby to deenergize the two relays YGZ and RG2 in the upper and lower units of this signal. The home control relay RYZ, however, is energized through its track relay front point' as is obvious, and thus the upper arm unit of this signal displays a yellow while the lower arm continues to display a red, and thus to give a yellow over red signal or approach signal sig nifying that an engineer approaching at medium speed should be prepared to stop at the next signal.

Signal S3, immediately to the rear, having a distant control over line wire 29 which is connected through contact finger 3B and front point of relay RY2 to line battery LB2, receives reverse polarity whereby to energize the lower arm unit control relay RG3 but to .not energize the upper arm unit control relay YG3. Thus, the upper arm unit displays a yellow as with the signal next in advance while the lower arm unit displays a green to thus display a yellow over green, or an approach medium signa1, signifying that an engineer should approach the next signal at a speed not above medium speed.

The pole changing relay PCR3 of this signal S3 is energized (since the polarized distant control relays are out of correspondence with each other) through a circuit including contact finger 30 and back point of relay YG3, contact finger 3| and front point of relay RG3, and wire 32.

This relay PCR3 places positive polarity on the line wire 33 leading to signal S4 immediately to the rear. As described above, this causes the en ergization of the distant control relay YG of the upper arm unit and the deenergization of the distant control relay RG4 of the lower arm unit whereby to cause the upper arm unit to display a green, and the lower arm unit to display a red.

This signal, green over red, or clear, signifies that the engineer can proceed at speed.

All the signals to the rear of this signal S4, assuming non-occupancy, display their clear signal aspects since the line wire 34 leading to the rear has positive polarity applied thereto because the pole changing relay PCRA of signal S4 is energized as is obvious from .the drawing.

Thus, it is seen that a simple, economical signaling system displaying four difierent signal aspects is provided without the use of any home and distant relays except those already included in the signal casings for operating the spectacle. In the case of the lower arm unit, since the spectacle has only two positions, the mechanism, or its replacement mechanism, for ordinarily moving the spectacle from red to yellow, can be employed for pole changing the line extending to the signal in the rear. Furthermore, in cases where it is suitable the track relays can be dispensed with, the red-yellow relay of the upper arm unit of the signal can be employed as the track relay, thus dispensing with any relays in addition to those in the signal casings.

The above rather specific description of one form of the invention is given solely by way of example and is not intended in any manner whatsoever in a limiting sense. It is to be understood that various modifications, adaptations,

.and alterations can be applied to meet the redeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention except as limited by the appended claims.

Having described our invention, we now claim:

1. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signaling sections, a track circuit for each section, a source of energy associated with each section, a wayside signal for each section, each signal including an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit, a pole changer and a pole changer operator included in one of the signal units, a separate signal operating means in each unit of 'each signal for, respectively, controlling its unit to display various aspects, and a polar circuit controlled by the pole changer of each signal and connecting its said source of associated energy to the said separate signal operating means in the signal units of the signal next to the rear.

2. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signaling sections, a track circuit for each section, a source of energy associated with each section, a wayside signal for each section, each signal including an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit, a pole changer and a pole changer. operator in one of the signal units, a separate signal operating means in each unit of each slgnal for, respectively, controlling its unit to display various aspects, a polar circuit controlled by the pole changer of each signal and connecting its said source of associated energy to the said separate signa1 operating means in the signal units of the signal next to the rear, and circuit means in each signal, controlled by traific conditions in the section next in advance for controlling the pole changer of its signal.

3. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signaling sections, a track circuit for each section, a source of energy associated with each section, a wayside signal for each section, each signal including an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit, a pole changer and a pole changer operator in one of the units, a separate signal operating means included in each unit of each signal for, respectively, controlling the unit to display various aspects, a polar circuit associated with each signal and controlled by its pole changer and connecting its said associated source of energy with the signal next to the rear for controlling said separate signal operating means in the signal next to the rear, means controlling each polar circuit in accordance with traffic conditions in the section next ahead, and circuit means in each signal controlled by the said separate operating means of the signal for energizing the pole changer of the signal only when said separate operating means differ in their energized conditions.

4. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signaling sections, a traclr circuit for each section, a source of energy associated with each section, a wayside signal associated with each section, each signal including an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit, a pole changer and a pole changer operator in each signal, a separate signal operating means in each arm unit of each signal for, respectively, controlling its arm unit to display various aspects, a polar circuit for each signal controlled by its pole changer and connecting its associated source or" energy to the signal next in the rear and controlling said separate signal operating means in the signal units of the signal next to the rear, and circuit means in each signal for energizing its pole changer and closed only when its signals separate operating means do not correspond with each other with regard to their energized conditions.

5. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signal sections, a track circuit for each section, a signal associated with each section, an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit for each signal, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next in advance, caution control means in each signal upper arm unit, circuit means to control the caution means in accordance with traffic conditions ahead, a polarized clear control means in each unit of each signal and connected in series in the polar circuit extending to the signal next in advance, and pole changing means in each signal controlled by both of the clear control means of its signal and in turn controlling the polarized circuit extending to it from the signal next to the rear.

6. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signal sections, a track circuit for each section, a signal associated with each section, an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit for each signal, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next to the rear, caution control means for one unit of each signal, circuit means for controlling the caution means in accordance with traffic conditions ahead, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next in ad- Vance, polarized clear control means for each unit of each signal and connected in series in the polar circuit extending to the signal next in advance and oppositely poled, and pole changing means in each signal controlled jointly by the clear control means of its signal and in turn controlling the polarized circuit extending to the signal next to the rear.

7. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signal sections, a track circuit for each section, a signal associated with each section, an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit for each signal, a polar izeol circuit connecting each signal with the signal next to the rear, a caution control means in each signal, control means responsive to trafiic conditions ahead and controlling each caution control means, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next in advance, a polarized clear control means in each unit of each signal and connected in series in the polar circuit extending to the signal next in advance and poled in their circuit oppositely to each other, pole changing means in each signal controlled jointly by the clear control means of its signal and connected to be energized only if either one of its two clear control means is energized and the other is de energized, the polarized circuit extending from each signal to the signal next to the rear being controlled by the pole changing means of the forward signal.

8. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signal sections, a signal associated with each section, a track circuit for each section, an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit for each signal, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next to the rear, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next in advance, a caution control means in each signal, control means for each caution control means and responsive to trafiic conditions ahead, a polarized clear control means in each unit of each signal and connected in series in the polar circuit extending to the signal next in advance and poled in this circuit oppositely to each other, pole changing means in each signal controlled jointly by the two clear control means of its signal and energized only if its two clear control means are one energized and the other deenergized, the polarized circuit extending from one signal to the signal next to the rear being controlled by the pole changing means of the forward signal and by the caution control means of the rear signal.

9. In a signaling system for railways, in combination, a stretch of track divided into isolated signal sections, a signal associated with each section, a track circuit for each section, an upper arm unit and a lower arm unit for each signal, a polarized. circuit connecting each signal with the signal next to the rear, a polarized circuit connecting each signal with the signal next in advance, a caution control means in each signal, control means for each caution control means and responsive to traffic conditions ahead, a polarized clear control means in each unit of each signal and connected in series in the polar circuit extending to the signal next in advance and poled in this circuit oppositely to each other, pole changing means in each signal controlled jointly by the two clear control means of its signal and energized only if its two clear control means are one energized and the other deenergized, the polarized circuit extending from one signal to the signal next to the rear being controlled by the pole changing means of the forward signal and by the caution control means of the rear signal and the forward signal.

EDMUND W. MOORE. JAMES W. KNAPP. 

